truth about domestics

Back in my day we didn’t have all this fancy-schmancy Internet thingy.  When we wanted to surf something we had to find a large body of water with waves on it…huh what?  300 posts!  That’s amazing!  It seems like just yesterday I was sitting back, drinking a beer and thinking, man this website thing is a lot of work…and it still is, but it’s totally worth it!  I would like to thank everyone out there who made this possible!  The writers (Alex, Ben and our newest Mike), the IT support (Alex), and oh yea, me ha ha.  Please work on spreading the word everyone!  We’re starting to increase traffic month over month, now we just need to do it faster!  The more people we inform, hopefully the more cars the Domestic Three will sell.  Most importantly, I would like to thank all our regular visitors out there in the Internet machine.  Without you, well, we’d be nothing!  So thanks again!

If you don’t know what to say to people, just ask them, “do you want your tax money back?  You know, the money we gave to GM and Chrysler?  Do you think you’ll get it back if you keep buying Toyota’s????”  That should really get them thinking.  Now where was I…oh yes…napping…

Hold your horses!  This is not a bailout, a rescue operation, or taxpayer handout.  No, the $5.9 billion that Ford is being awarded from the Department of Energy is designed to be used on “Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing.”  Ford will use the money to fund its electric vehicle programs as well as pay for the renovation of Michigan Truck Plant to produce the next generation Focus in both ICE and BEV form.

For more details, head on over to Autoblog.

General Motors knows that fuel efficiency is important to customers.  To prove their point, they developed a new four-cylinder engine, a 2.4L Ecotec that features direct injection.  This engine has already shown that it can produce impressive numbers in the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox, where it gets an EPA estimated 32 mpg highway.  For the Buick GM is predicting highway fuel economy around 30 mpg while city should be around 20 mpg.

For more head on over to Autoblog.

J.D. Power and Associates has just released the results from it’s Initial Quality Study and the results are mostly good for the Domestic Three.  GM, Ford and Chrysler saw their quality improve by an average of 10%, while the industry as a whole only improved by 8%.  Cadillac was the number three brand, while Chevrolet, Ford and Mercury all performed above the industry average.

For full details, head on over to the Monterey Herald.

General Motors sold one million Buicks in eight years in China.  The second million came in only three years after double digit sales growth in the emerging market.  When you look at the products that Buick of China has, its no surprise really, they have some sharp looking cars, from the new Regal, LaCrosse and Park Avenue to the little Excelle.

If only Buick could have this kind of success here in the United States, then maybe GM’s situation wouldn’t be so bad.  For more head on over to Autoblog.

Chrysler hasn’t had much luck selling it’s Sebring and Dodge Avenger platform mates, just 133,626 sold last year compared to the 436,617 for the Toyota Camry.  However, there is hope for Chrysler’s C/D segment.  The 200C concept car was shown last year on a shortened version of the LX platform that underpins the larger 300C.  This could mean a Sebring/Avenger replacement that is rear wheel drive!

So what do you think?  Should Chrysler make the push for rear wheel drive?  I personally think it would be a great idea.  Rear wheel drive cars are more sporting when pushed hard, they have a more aggressive stance from a styling perspective, and it would give Chrysler something unique to offer in the marketplace.  No other automaker will have a rear wheel drive based portfolio (other than the Germans.)  Here’s to hoping that they follow through on this one and hit it out of the park!  For more, head on over to Autoblog.

I know what you’re thinking.  “What???  Not my Toyota!  They make the Prius, the car that will save us all and end our dependence on foreign oil (even though the majority of our oil doesn’t come from the Middle East like everyone thinks it does!)  They wouldn’t do that!”  Sadly, it is that very same Toyota that this article refers to.  Toyota is planning a new research center that will cause the destruction of at least 691 acres of rice paddies and cedar forests.  Some of the paddies have been around since the 17th century.

The site will be used to test environmentally friendly cars…how ironic.  Local activists say the destruction of the forests will threaten the habitat of the gray-faced buzzard and the oriental honey buzzard, both endangered animals.  In what comes as no surprise to me, Toyota has declined to comment on the issue and why would they?  People will continue to blindly buy their cars and trucks because they don’t care where their money goes, they just think they’re buying into the environmentally friendly brand image that Toyota has somehow managed to gather over the past few decades.

Another thing that upsets me about this article is the fact that Bloomberg took up the first half talking about the new Prius and how fuel efficient it is, and how the President of the company likes to race cars, before they finally started talking about the environmental destruction that Toyota was planning.  Maybe if articles like this got front page news, like it does when an American company is involved, people would think twice before buying another Japanese product.  They are just as guilty at doing anything they can to make a profit as the American companies are.  They should not be held in any higher regard.  For the full story click here.

Thanks Mike, for the heads-up on the article.

Check out the video above for some sweet Baja action, as well as some awesome shots of the 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor!!!

Another exciting new product from Ford…when will this onslaught end???  The 2010 Transit Connect is aimed at businesses that are too small or just plain don’t need an Econoline van and for that it is perfectly equipped.  Featuring a 4 cylinder engine and a four speed automatic, the Transit Connect is rated at 22 mpg city and 25 mpg highway.  All while being able to carry 1,600 lbs of cargo in the back.  It is also available as a “wagon” variant with a 3 row bench in the middle.

For all the details, and more photos on it’s custimization options, head on over to Autoblog.

In what I thought was old news, Chrysler has put development of it’s light duty Cummins diesel engine for the Ram 1500 pickup on hold.  Mainly due to current economic conditions, but also due to Chrysler bankruptcy, the diesel would have gone up against similar “light duty” diesels from Ford and GM had those units also not been shelved.

Apparently the contract between Cummins and Chrysler was severed when old Chrysler filed for bankruptcy, and new Chrysler has yet to pick up the contract again.  There is some speculation that the engine could end up under the hood of a Nissan consumer grade vehicle…for more head on over to PickupTrucks.com.